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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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The RAIN scale: A good intention that falls short
Radiation protection specialists agree that clear communication of radiation risks remains a vexing challenge that cannot be solved solely by finding new ways to convey technical information.
Earlier this year, an article in Nuclear News described a new radiation risk communication tool, known as the Radiation Index, or, RAIN (“Let it RAIN: A new approach to radiation communication,” NN, Jan. 2025, p. 36). The authors of the article created the RAIN scale to improve radiation risk communication to the general public who are not well-versed in important aspects of radiation exposures, including radiation dose quantities, units, and values; associated health consequences; and the benefits derived from radiation exposures.
Hyung Kook Joo, Chang Hyo Kim, Jae Man Noh, Si-Hwan Kim
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 116 | Number 4 | April 1994 | Pages 300-312
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE94-A18989
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
New core-reflector boundary conditions designed to replace the explicit representation of the reflector in nodal computations are developed taking into account the transverse leakage in the reflector region. Two approximations are introduced for the transverse leakage in the reflector region: exponential approximation for the slab reflector and quadratic polynomial and exponential approximation for the L-shaped reflector. Core-reflector boundary conditions that relate net current with flux at the core-reflector interfaces are then derived by solving the transverse integrated neutron diffusion equation with transverse leakage approximations in the reflector region. To test the usefulness of new core-reflector boundary conditions, nodal expansion method computations with and without explicit representation of reflectors are performed for the core power distribution and criticality of Zion-1 and YGN-1 pressurized water reactors. It is demonstrated that core power and criticality computations with new boundary conditions agree very well with those with the reflector included explicitly in computational nodes.